There are several steps involved in providing a diagnosis of a patient based on an ultrasound examination. First, the ultrasound examination is performed on an ultrasound imaging system. The images generated from this examination can then be digitally stored and reviewed by a physician on an ultrasound review station, which is typically coupled with an ultrasound imaging system though a network. The ultrasound review station can display images, text, and measurement and calculation data and can also be used to facilitate the production of ultrasound examination reports. Based on his analysis at the review station, the physician generates an ultrasound examination report to provide a diagnosis. Often, a physician will dictate his diagnosis onto an audio tape or recording system, and the diagnosis is later transcribed and entered into an ultrasound examination report. Alternatively, the diagnosis can be typed into the ultrasound imaging system.
To assist in the performance of an ultrasound examination, some ultrasound imaging systems allow voice control of some of the operations of the system. Typically, a voice recognition unit, which is either part of or separate from the ultrasound imaging system""s processor, converts an incoming voice signal to a control signal using voice information stored in the voice recognition unit. To enhance recognition performance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,544,654, which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention, describes an ultrasound imaging system in which a subset of voice information is used based on the operating state of the ultrasound imaging system. Specifically, the ultrasound imaging system""s processor provides the voice recognition unit with an indication of its operating state, and the voice recognition unit selects only the portions the voice information that are relevant to the operating state. Because the voice recognition unit makes the selection based on the provided indication of operating state, the voice recognition unit and processor must be synchronized to ensure proper selection, especially when the processor is shipped separately from the voice recognition unit and when the processor is updated without updating the voice recognition unit.
To assist the physician review ultrasound images at a review station, graphical user interfaces have been used to provide a more user-friendly environment for the physician. Typically, these graphical user interfaces have windows, menus, and buttons, and a visual focus manipulated by a pointing device such as a mouse, keyboard, or trackball. Ultrasound review stations often have so many functions that applications are divided into hierarchies of menus and sub-menus, dialogs and sub-dialogs, and windows and sub-windows. Although graphical user interfaces were intended to facilitate interaction with the review station, some users have difficulty finding the desired functionality in the complex windows and menu hierarchies. Some users also find it difficult to fluidly manipulate pointing devices that require click and double-click actions.
Finally, to reduce the time needed to produce an ultrasound examination report and to improve the overall diagnostic workflow for a patient, automatic transcription systems have been used, such as Medspeak from IBM, Clinical Reporter from Lernout and Hauspie, and Powerscribe from the MRC Group. These systems are stand-alone devices with specialized vocabularies and are not incorporated with the ultrasound imaging system or review station. Some transcription systems attempt to transcribe every word voiced by the physician. Because of limitations in current transcription technology, these systems often produce inaccurate transcriptions. To overcome this problem, some systems reduce the amount of automatic dictation that is needed by creating macros, which, when spoken, trigger a longer text to be inserted into the report. Although typically more accurate than automatic dictation systems, these systems also encounter recognition problems. To further enhance accuracy, some systems use inline-style macro displays, in which a proposed textual phrase is displayed to a user for acceptance. Because these systems only need to recognize the command to accept or reject the proposed textual phrase, recognition accuracy is increased. However, presenting proposed textual phrases to a user can be a time consuming process, especially if the user rejects several proposed phrases before reaching an acceptable phrase.
There is, therefore, a need for an improved diagnostic medical ultrasound imaging system and review station to overcome the problems described above.
The present invention is defined by the following claims, and nothing in this section should be taken as a limitation on those claims.
By way of introduction, the preferred embodiments described below relate to voice-enhanced diagnostic medical ultrasound imaging systems and review stations as well as to voice-related user interfaces. With these preferred embodiments, a user can interact with an imaging system or review station by issuing verbal commands instead of using a mouse, keyboard, or other user interface that requires physical manipulation by the user. This provides a very user-friendly interface, especially to those users who have difficulty navigating complex window and menu hierarchies or who have trouble manipulating pointing devices. This also improves patient flow and provides a more efficient report generation system. Voice feedback can also be used to allow the imaging system or review station to better communicate with a user.
The preferred embodiments will now be described with reference to the attached drawings.